Economic Development in Winnipeg

Winnipeg’s central location makes it easily accessible by air, road and railway.

Via major airlines, Winnipeg is only two hours from the cities of Calgary, Edmonton, Minneapolis, Chicago and Denver. It is conveniently located on Canada’s Trans Canada Highway and Yellowhead Route, and connects directly with Interstate 29, only 97 km (60 miles) north of the Canada / U.S. border.

Air Transportation

The Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport (YWG), operated by the Winnipeg Airports Authority Inc. (WAA), is the only international airport between Toronto and Calgary capable of handling large freighter aircraft. Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport is Canada’s longest serving international airport. It is competitively positioned as a 24-hour airport. Only 4.5 miles (7 km) from the city centre, it provides convenient access for Winnipeg business and visitor traffic alike.

YWG offers a broad range of air passenger and cargo services including international carriers, commuter airlines, jet freight carriers, fixed base operators and various charter operations. It serves nearly 4 million passengers, over 160,000 aircraft movements, and handles over 155,000 tonnes of cargo annually.

Winnipeg’s leaders have recognized the significance of the airport to the city’s future. It is at the heart of a strong provincial transportation sector and the airport is a significant economic catalyst. Recent service enhancements include improved trans-border air services and direct services to the U.K.

Winnipeg is one of North America’s major air gateways, due to its favourable central location relative to global flight paths.

Private pilots and corporate fleets enjoy a high level of service, convenience, and comfort due to the extensive services and superior facilities offered by Esso Avitat , Shell AeroCentre and Fast Air Executive Aviation Services.

Rail Transportation

Winnipeg is the only major city between Vancouver, BC and Thunder Bay, ON with direct U.S. rail connections and is on the mainline of Canada’s two national rail systems: The Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) and Canadian National Railway Company (CN).

Both CP and CN maintain extensive and modern yards with major service facilities. At CN’s Symington Yard over 3,000 cars can be handled in a day. CP’s yard processes an average of 2,000 cars per day.

CN’s Symington Yard has a capacity of about 3,500 rail cars, and includes CN’s locomotive reliability centre to maintain its locomotive fleet. The yard also includes a radio shop, electronic repair shop and freight car repair shop.

Also in Winnipeg is CN’s eBusiness and Transaction Centre. The Centre is the single point of contact for customer eBusiness and shipping documentation, as well as managing other centralized customer support requirements.

CP operates a multi-million dollar Transportation Service Centre (TSC) in Winnipeg. This Centre is responsible for tracking, ordering, supplying and coordinating the placement of loaded and empty railcars. The TSC consolidates the functions of nine major customer centres across the country into a single, high-tech operation.

CP employs approximately 2,700 people in Manitoba. Close to 2,000 of these employees are based in Winnipeg. CP’s total direct expenditure in Manitoba through employment, purchases, capital spending and taxes is approximately $200 million a year.

CP’s Weston shops, in Winnipeg, is one of CP’s key repair facilities. Winnipeg supplies the entire railway with freight car wheel sets, truck and refurbished freight car components, and maintenance equipment such as frogs and switch points. As well, the shop is the centre for maintenance of a large portion of CP’s GM built locomotive fleet.

Both railways also have large intermodal facilities in Winnipeg. Intermodal is the movement of shipments from origin to destination by different modes, usually ship, train, and truck. Land-based intermodal transportation combines the short-haul advantages of trucks, with the long-haul advantages of rail.

CN’s Winnipeg Intermodal Terminal is ideally located adjacent to CN’s main line through Winnipeg, and a major highway. The facility handles about 90,000 units coming into Winnipeg from across the continent, or leaving Winnipeg for export to international markets. CP’s intermodal terminal handles an average of 35,000 units per year.

With three rail connections to the U.S., Winnipeg enjoys ready access to the world’s largest market. CP has a network of 24 intermodal terminals in Canada and the U.S. The railway also has eight border crossings between Canada and the U.S., offering ready access to our markets in both countries. CP operates container terminals and additional handling facilities to serve Midwest U.S. centres, including Chicago, Minneapolis and Milwaukee.

CN spans Canada and mid-America, from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans to the Gulf of Mexico, serving the ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, BC, Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, AL, and the key metropolitan areas of Toronto, Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Duluth, MN/Superior, WI, Green Bay, WI, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, St. Louis, and Jackson, MS, with connections to all points in North America.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad with direct connections to almost three quarters of the U.S. and service into Mexico, has terminal facilities in Winnipeg under the name of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Manitoba Inc. The Canadian subsidiary operates a joint train to the Emerson border crossing with CN, where they connect with Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad which delivers the BNSF cars containing Canadian goods to various points of the U.S. The reverse is also used for the U.S. to deliver their goods to Winnipeg and Western Canada.

Churchill is not only a major tourist site, but Manitoba’s northern seaport. OmniTRAX operates the Hudson Bay Railway, a short line railroad connecting The Pas and Churchill, moving commodities such as grains, ores and wood products through the seaport. Already a long-established export route for agricultural and mineral commodities, Churchill has great potential as a trading port for markets in northern and eastern Europe, and Latin America.

Truck Transportation

Having developed and maintained its important position as a transportation centre, Winnipeg is the headquarters for several of the top ranking inter-provincial general freight carriers.

Head Office Trucking Operators:

• Arnold Bros. Transport Ltd.
• Bison Transport Services Ltd.
• Custom Transport
• Direct Integrated Transportation Inc.
• G2 Logistics Inc.
• Gardewine North
• Kleysen Transport Ltd.
• Paul’s Hauling Ltd.
• Payne Transportation Inc.
• Reimer Express Lines Ltd.
• TransX Ltd.
• Winnipeg Motor Express Inc.

In addition, Canadian Pacific Railway and Canadian National Railway operate intermodal terminals in Winnipeg.

Source: Manitoba Highways & Government Services

Major Highways

The Manitoba Department of Highways and Transportation has identified, within its primary highway system, roads which are defined as major provincial highways. Major provincial highways are designated on the basis of their importance as regional, provincial, interprovincial or international carriers. All designated major provincial highways are listed below according to the degree of access they provide to the city of Winnipeg.

Major Highway Systems:

• No. 1 Trans-Canada (east-west) - direct connection to all major urban centres in Canada
• Manitoba No. 75 South to connect with U.S. Interstate No. 29 and Minnesota No. 94 (Border crossing - Emerson)
• Manitoba No. 59 to connect with Minnesota No. 59 and U.S. No. 2 (Border Crossing - Tolstoi)

The following additional major provincial highways provide direct access to the city of Winnipeg:

• PTH 2, PTH 3, PTH 6, PTH 7, PTH 8, PTH 9, PTH 15, PTH 100/101 (Perimeter Highway)

The following major provincial highways provide indirect access to Winnipeg:

• PTH 12, PTH 16, PTH 44, PTH 67

The following major provincial highways are remote, however, they may still provide limited access to the city of Winnipeg:

• PTH 5, PTH 10, PTH 11, PTH 14, PTH 39, PTH 60, PTH 68, PTH 83

Shipping Distances

Winnipeg is centrally located in North America therefore we have the shortest average shipping distances from coast to coast, in all directions.